Porsche racer Stephen Grove will tick off a bucket list experience this weekend when joining Porsche Carrera Cup France at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.

Grove will compete with 2016 championship winning team Pro GT by Almeras for the second round of the French series, which will run as a support category to the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The event will be Grove’s second international Carrera Cup appearance following his participation at the joint Porsche Carrera Cup France & Great Britain round in support of the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hour race.

Grove’s experience highlights Carrera Cup drivers’ ability to use Porsche’s international one-make racing platform to compete at the world’s most iconic race tracks in identical 911 GT3 Cup cars to what they race in their local Carrera Cup championship.

“This is an incredible opportunity and I can’t wait to line up at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend. The two tracks I’ve always wanted to race on are Le Mans and Spa. I was lucky enough to race in Carrera Cup at Le Mans in 2014, and now, to be able to drive a 991 GT3 Cup car around Spa will be amazing,” said Grove.

“I’ve never been to Spa before so to go over there and benchmark myself against the French Elite drivers will be really good. And to work with another team and another engineer will be fantastic. I’m really looking forward to it.

“Porsche has a great international racing programme that allows you to race in different Carrera Cup championships around the world and race in a car you’re familiar with on some of the world’s best tracks. It’s an unbeatable experience.

“I’ll see how we go this weekend and hopefully do some more overseas Carrera Cup rounds later in the year.”

Not only will this weekend fulfil a life-long ambition for Grove, the round will also act as preparation for the forthcoming Carrera Cup Australia round on May 26-28 at Phillip Island, which will see all drivers race with a co-driver for the annual Pro-Am event.

“Spa is a fast, free-flowing track, which will no doubt prepare me for the Phillip Island Pro-Am event later this month. I’ve won that event before, which will certainly be the aim again this year.”

From 37 round starts, Grove’s Carrera Cup Australia highlights include winning the 2014 TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge title, claiming the outright victory at the Carrera Cup Pro-Am event alongside Scott McLaughlin, also in 2014, and winning the TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge/Class B race at last season’s Porsche Carrera Cup Asia & Australia joint round at Sydney Motorsport Park.